Case Number 10494

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VAN WILDER: VAN GONE WILDER EDITION

The Charge

"This is really a pimpin' good time."

Opening Statement

Ah, the glorious land of the double-dip. It's a sad day when such a lowly
film is worthy of a second go round from the studio. What makes National
Lampoons' Van Wilder (just Van Wilder going forward) worthy of such
distinction? Simple: it's earned a straight-to-DVD sequel: Van Wilder: The
Rise of Taj. So with the sequel comes a trip back to the vault to wring a
few more dollars from the uninitiated. Normally, a double-dip would include a
coupon to see the sequel for free in the theater; would this one perhaps include
a coupon for a discount on Taj? It doesn't. You're on your own to pay
full price for that gem.

We at The Verdict strive to keep you informed, and retired Judge Naugle had
the honor of reviewing the original release. I'll try to compare the two
releases while tossing in my own thoughts on this comedic treasure...

Facts of the Case

Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds, Blade: Trinity) is a seventh year student
at Coolidge College. Afraid to grow up and graduate, he's kept himself in
school, becoming the quintessential B.M.O.C. One day his father (Tim Matheson,
The West Wing) realizes how much money he's invested (spent) in his son,
and his return has been poor. So, like any good parent, he cuts Van off -- no
more money for school. But Van isn't ready to go, so he uses his special skills
to raise the money necessary for him to stay another year. Commence le
festival!

The Evidence

I'll admit (again) that I'm a fan of this silly genre of movies: the teen
comedy. I don't know why, but I find them appealing and they make me laugh.To
wit, Van Wilder made me laugh. There's nothing original or innovative in
this comedy, but great performances by Ryan Reynolds and Kal Penn (Taj Mahal
Badalandabad, the star of the sequel) and plenty of naughty bits to keep it
flowing.

"A great performance by Ryan Reynolds?" "Are you
serious," you ask? Yes, I am. After that ridiculous turn to try to be a
butch action hero in the Blade trilogy, it's good to see Ryan do what he
does well -- comedy. In Van Wilder he's at the top of his game,
transforming effortlessly into the confident, smarmy, yet lovable goofball. What
truly made his performance memorable were his voice inflections and the numerous
"who me?" faces he did throughout the film. The two in tandem captured
the spirit of the character, allowing you to believe he could become so wildly
popular.

Not going to pester me about Kal's great performance? That's good, because
you realize and know that he stole every scene he was in, easily overshadowing
Reynolds. The studio realized this too, giving him the reigns to the sequel. Of
course, in the interim, he also starred in the infamous Harold and Kumar Go
to the White Castle -- not to mention his little role in Superman
Returns.

The sophomoric humor laced throughout Van Wilder appeals to a certain
crowd, but even as a proud member of this adolescent club I have to say that
there's one theme that disturbed me and grossed me out: the bulldog. Every time
the dog and his ginormous testicles came on screen, I cringed. It was just
gross. Compounding that was the extra special attention given to them (the hot
tub and Van's nap). Turning gross into vomit inducing is the éclair scene.
Did they have to make the filling so translucent and runny? I have to avert my
eyes every time.

As Judge Naugle said, "What's wrong with me?" Why do I enjoy such
ignorant humor? Why do I own all the American Pie movies and so forth?
Why do I stoop so low in my entertainment, finding such delight in lowbrow
jokes? Hell if I know, but a good fart joke makes me cry with laughter almost
every time!

With all that said and done, I'm not here to convince you to pick up this
movie. No, my task is far more important: researching this dreaded double-dip.
From what I gather, the discs contain the same video and audio transfers. Judge
Naugle gave it higher scores than me, as I don't feel they are "A"
releases. There's unwanted graininess and blockiness (not quite pixelization) in
some scenes; but, outside of that, colors were accurate, blacks were solid, and
contrast and sharpness led to very good detail definition. The Dolby Digital 5.1
audio track is undemanding, yet dialogue is always clean and clear. I would have
thought such a movie would have a stronger soundtrack, but there isn't, leading
to minimal use of the surrounds and subwoofer.

With this two-disc "Gone Wilder" edition, what's the difference?
In comparing the bonus items on the two, you've gained some and lost some
items:

Gained: * Drunken Idiot Kommentary: As much as I enjoyed the
movie, I couldn't stand this lame commentary track. I barely made it in ten
minutes before I had to turn it off. It was hosted by "Brickman" and
"Mason" (can't find anyone by those names associated with the film, so
maybe they introduced themselves later) who made complete idiots of themselves
(the point, obviously), spouting the most inane nonsense imaginable. Maybe it
got funnier, but I'll never know.

(The following are all contained on the second DVD.)

* "Party Legends, Pledges, and 'Bull'-ies" (16 minutes): A general
making-of the movie with perhaps a touch too much emphasis on éclairs. * "Ultimate College Party Guide" (5 minutes): Panos Patakos imparts
the wisdom he garnered from Van Wilder and teaches you how to throw a great
party. Can you say lame? * "Gwen-ezuma's Revenge" (7.5 minutes):
An analysis of what happens to someone who ingests Mega Colon Blow in a movie
setting. * "Write that Down": Text-based feature showing the
quotes Van Wilder told somebody to write down. * "Testicles of the
Animal Kingdom": A gross quiz asking you to identify various animal
testicles.

Perhaps not really a bonus item, but the DVD comes in a sleeve featuring 3-D
boobies!

The Same: * Sugarcult's "Bouncing off the Walls"
Music Video: Still not in 5.1 surround. * Deleted Scenes: Nine scenes with
play all, eight of which I thought were good enough to have stayed in the
movie. * "Comedy Central's" Reel Comedy: National
Lampoon's Van Wilder (21 mintues): You've seen these on Comedy Central by
now and is basically a long promo for the movie. * Burly TV
Specials: I have no idea where these come from, but there are three specials
included: "Half Baked" (12.5 minutes), "Imposter" (16.5
minutes), and "Movie Junky" (14.5 minutes). They all feature the cast
from the show, the first in a cooking show, the second in a fake dating show
(think Punk'd), and the last in a simple movie review show. These have
nothing to do with the film, aside from, again, promoting it. * Outtakes:
Twelve individual scenes not spliced together into a normal blooper reel. I
found most of these decidedly unfunny.

Also included are a new round of preview trailers for Reservoir Dogs,
Saw II, Waiting, Chasing Christmas, and Dorm Daze
2.

How does this "Gone Wilder" batch of bonus features measure up?
Most of the new material is very lame. The only one of any note is the
"making of," which isn't much. What was lost doesn't appear to have
been a great loss, though I'd think there was enough room to keep all this
stuff. And for the stuff that stayed the same, it too was lame not to mention
only barely relevant to the movie. All in all, there's a decent quantity of
bonus material, but it the quality sucks compared to the movie.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Strike One -- "National Lampoon's": That name used to mean
something. Those movies were once hilarious, considered classics. Animal
House is the pinnacle of its achievement, and nothing has even come anywhere
close to the pure, simple, and timeless pleasure of that movie.

Strike Two -- Teen Comedy: Teen comedies are a dime a dozen, and they aren't
even worth that much. Same old jokes, lame B-grade actors, and no attempt at any
plot relegate this drivel to the trash.

Strike Three -- Tara Reid: That bimbo couldn't act her way out of a paper
bag. Worse, she doesn't even have her bad boob job yet.

Closing Statement

You know who you are, and you're reading this. Van Wilder is a film
that appeals to a certain niche of regressive male individuals who enjoy puerile
attempts at humor. I'm a proud member of that club, and I found a great deal to
enjoy in this film. It's has a bunch of humorous stuff, keeps you entertained
until the end, and actually creates a memorable character or two along the way.
I give the movie a recommendation for at least a rental. But which version?
Simple, if you own the first release, there's no need to double-dip. If you
don't own either, get whichever is cheaper.

The Verdict

National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Van Gone Wilder Edition is hereby found
guilty of being a totally unnecessary double-dip.